Banquo Character Analysis

• Banquo character analysis

  Banquo represents loyalty, honesty and typical Christian values, all characteristics that Macbeth fails to display.

  Banquo character summary

  
• Why is Banquo important?

  Shakespeare uses Banquo as a foil, to provide a contrast to the character of Macbeth. Banquo represents many things that Macbeth is not:

  • Trusting: At the beginning of the play, he refers to Macbeth as "my noble partner", although later he suspects that Macbeth may have become king through evil means  
  • Dutiful: He is always shown to be faithful towards his king and kingdom, and publicly criticises the “treasonous malice” of Duncan’s regicide
  • Sceptical: Banquo distrusts the witches and their prophecies because, as a faithful Christian, he believes them to be evil

  Later in the play, Banquo returns as a ghost. Banquo’s ghost is only visible to Macbeth and seems symbolic of Macbeth’s guilt.
• Banquo’s use of language

  Shakespeare uses a range of techniques to compare Banquo’s speech with other characters:

  • Straightforward language: He speaks plainly throughout the play, unlike Macbeth and Lady Macbeth: he earnestly supports his king and the established order and calls on his Christian beliefs frequently to show his honesty and integrity.
  • Iambic pentameter: This shows he is a nobleman, while Macbeth’s speech is interspersed with prose or rhyming couplets to show his relative lack of virtue and the increasing corruption of his noble nature.
  • Soliloquies and asides: Shakespeare reveals his integrity and moral clarity through his speeches. They reflect his concern that Macbeth has been deceived by the witches’ prophecies and may have killed Duncan as a result. 
• Banquo key quotes:

  
• Banquo character development:

  Act 1, Scene 3

  • Banquo questions the prophecies: Although formidable allies on and off the battlefield, Macbeth and Banquo perceive the witches’ prophecies differently, with Banquo urging Macbeth to “reason”. 
  • Act 2, Scene 1-Banquo’s declares his faith: After Duncan’s murder, Banquo publicly declares his loyalty to Duncan and his faith in God (and God’s choice of king).
• Act 3, Scene 1

  • Banquo reveals his suspicions: In a soliloquy, Banquo shares his fears that Macbeth’s claim to the throne was achieved by “foul” means. 
  • Act 3, Scene 5- Macbeth’s betrayal: 

  Banquo’s noble and trusting nature means that he is still surprised by the treachery of Macbeth — who has planned to murder him and his son Fleance. 
• Banquo character interpretation

  Flattering King James 

  William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth is loosely based on real events in Scotland in the early 11th century. James I — the king of Scotland and also the king of England at the time Macbeth was written and performed — believed himself to be the descendant of a historical figure called “Banquo”, and so Banquo’s characterisation can be seen as Shakespeare flattering his new royal sponsor.
• Embodying Jacobean values 

  Shakespeare’s portrayal of Banquo becomes all the more significant when we learn that — according to histories of early medieval Scotland — Banquo is named as one of the co-conspirators (with Macbeth) in King Duncan’s murder. 

  However, in Shakespeare’s version, Banquo shows restraint, and is noble, Christian and dutiful: all the qualities you would want for the forefather of a line of kings, a line that will culminate in James I himself.